The Basics: Tepary Beans

Tepary Beans Tutorial :

With everything I cook I try to add different dimensions of flavor at every opportunity I get. When cooking legumes I often times add bay leaves (or other aromatic) as well as salt, smashed garlic and a smidgen of oil.

The general idea is to add great elements of flavor into every component of the dish.  Should your end game be a soup, building a legume dish in this way also can be the early makings of a great stock.

Some argue that adding salt to beans while cooking causes the beans to cook unevenly leaving them gritty and grainy.  I haven’t experienced this much, but it may be something to consider if you are using the stovetop method of cooking.  In most of my legume recipes I add turmeric to the mix while cooking.  Turmeric is added to most Indian lentil as it is known to aid in digestion so I use this in many of my non-Indian legume preparations as well.

“Building Blocks”

Ingredients:

1 cup of tepary beans
2 cloves garlic (smashed)
1 bay leaf
¼ teaspoon of turmeric
a drizzle of oil (1 scant teaspoon)

There are a couple different ways of cooking the beans here and the stovetop method I have to say is my least favorite method.

I have no interest in being that overhyped salesperson behind the counter that insists you NEED every novelty item in the houseware shelf, but I will insist that if you do love legumes, investing in the pressure cooker is the way to go.  Once you get over the initial fear and awkwardness of the device, you’ll find yourself looking for any excuse pull it out, three bean soup for one!

Pressure cooker method:

Add 1 cup of tepary beans to 4 ½ cups of water in the pressure cooker along with a teaspoon of oil, a bay leaf, and two teaspoons of salt.  Using the instructions that came with your pressure cooker cook the beans on full pressure for 1 hour. For most other types of beans, pinto, black, kidney, you can Be sure *not* to open the pressure cooker *until*  the pressure indicator has dropped.  Read your pressure cooker instruction manual carefully before operating.

Slow Cooker Method:

Add 1 ½ cup of tepary beans with 5 cups of water with a drizzle of oil with two teaspoons salt a in crock pot set to low and cook overnight (minimum 7 hours).

Stove top method:

Soak 1 cup of beans overnight in a generous amount of water.  Drain – then add to a pot with salt, oil, and a bay leaf. Add 4 cups of water to every cup of beans. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer.  Cook for an hour and a half to two hours until tender.

Perfect. Tender. Perfect.

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